Fear of victimization and health

Fear of victimization may have consequences for subjective well-being. I develop and test a model linking fear of victimization to subjective health. I hypothesize that two processes link fear to subjective health-psychological and behavioral. Specifically, I hypothesize that fear of victimization increases psychological distress, and fear decreases outdoor physical activity, especially walking. High levels of psychological distress and low levels of walking, in turn, are associated with poor self-reported health. I find empirical support for the hypothesized processes in a representative national sample of 2031 adults aged 18 to 90 interviewed by telephone in 1990. The negative association between fear and health is explained largely by psychological distress and walking. However, a significant direct effect remains. I conclude with suggestions for future research linking crime and health, focusing on the need for collecting information on community disorganization. Community context is likely the ultimate exogenous variable-the one that sets in motion the destructive cycle of fear, distress, inactivity, and poor health described here.     

山东检察研究与检察改革情况报告

一、检察研究总体情况(一)检察研究成效明显近年来,山东省检察研究工作坚持以邓小平理论和“三个代表”重要思想为指导,以建立科学的中国特色社会主义检察理论体系为目标,坚持基础研究和应用研究“两手抓”,立足服务,深入基层,重点围绕党和国家中心工作、围绕检察制度和检察工作面临的重大理论和实践问题,进行了广泛而深入的调查研究,为强化法律监督、完善检察制度、推进检察事业创造了良好的理论环境,检察研究服务大局、服务检察业务、服务领导决策的职能作用得到了充分的发挥。     

The ECJ eases the way for comparative advertisers

The ECJ reiterates its support for the comparative advertiserby indicating that common sense is needed to comply with theMisleading Advertising and Comparative Advertising Directive(Directive 97/55).     

(Re-)Setting the Scholarly Agenda on Transjudicial Communication

We consider the contributions made by Robert H. Bork's Coercing Virtue (2003) and Anne-Marie Slaughter's A New World Order (2004) to the ongoing debate over the citation of foreign law in United States courts. While empirically minded sociolegal scholars might be tempted to dismiss these books as mere op-eds, that would be a mistake. Taken with the spate of other recent work, they supply the makings of an agenda for rigorous research devoted to understanding the exchange of law among nations.     

Legislation and educational change: the struggle for social justice and quality in China's compulsory schooling

Whether a law can bring about change has been an important topic of debate in the literatures of law, sociology and education. With reference to the 2006 revision of compulsory schooling legislation in China, this article examines the functions and limits of the use of law to effect educational change. It explores why and how China continues to rely on instrumental use of the law to bring about change and rectify problems that the previous legislation did not. The article shows that law can be used as a tool for social justice that helps defend children's right to access basic quality education. However, the realization of legislative change requires favourable economic, social and/or cultural conditions, the support of extra-legal means and a concerted effort by all actors in interpreting and enforcing the law.